Originator for the pizzicato and arco bass solos and who played with Duke Ellington's band.
He attended Tennessee State University and started playing with college bands before leaving to work with the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra.
He died in a sanatorium when he was twenty-three years old.
He was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Both Blanton and Cootie Williams played in Duke Ellington's band.
